University of Oxford, Ghana Gold Expo to hold CSR workshop

Professor Miles Larmer — Director, Oxford University’s African Studies Centre

Professor Miles Larmer — Director, Oxford University’s African Studies Centre

Oxford University’s African Studies Centre will collaborate with the Ghana Gold Expo Foundation to organise a strategic mining workshop on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and community engagement impact in the country.

The workshop slated for the Western Regional capital, Takoradi, forms part of the centre’s focus on the CSR and community engagement in the country’s mining industry.

The December 6 and 7, 2022 event will focus on CSR in the Mining Sector, Investment Agreements between the government and the mining companies, and the use of royalty funds, encompassing the themes of stakeholder engagement, human rights, reporting and impact assessment.

The Director of the African Studies Centre, Professor Miles Larmer, in a release issued by the two entities, explained that the vision for the workshop, which had been jointly developed with Ghana Gold Expo and key stakeholders, was to bring together international and national leaders in the mining sector – governmental and mine company representatives – with non-governmental organisations, local community leaders, and academics.

“In Ghana, the corporate social responsibility impact assessment by major mining companies has key policies that ensure the fulfilment and pledges by mining companies in areas including: Education, Governance, Health, Infrastructure Development (Roads, Housing, Lighting) Conservation and Sanitation, Capacity Building & Women’s Empowerment, Agriculture,” the release quoted him as saying.

The Executive Director of Ghana Gold Expo Foundation, Dr Steven Blessing Ackah, indicated that the workshop would assess the extent to which current CSR programmes and mechanisms were meeting the promise of the policies.

He said the cooperation with the University of Oxford was crucial and had come at the right time when mining activities had become the bedrock of the Ghanaian society, a requisite for the country’s development.

It was also the need to have the national framework on CSR impact and reporting in host communities, Dr Ackah stated.

The Western regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, noted that the workshop would involve the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, The Ghana Chamber of Mines, Minerals Development Fund, Minerals Income Investment Fund, Minerals Commission, Small Scale Miners Association, Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Adamus Resource Limited and Northern Ashanti Mining, Newmont Ghana Limited, among others.